Li Fan had witnessed many Curios of heaven and earth.
Apart from the Deepsea Pearl formed from the will of the Congyun Sea, there were also Kou Hong’s Qiulong Branch and Dao Xuanzi’s Rusted Sword Dao Xuan.
Looking back now, it seemed eight or nine out of ten of them were transformed from fallen cultivators.
The Qiulong Branch embodied the concept of the small overcoming the large, of devouring and consumption. The Rusted Sword Dao Xuan represented an unyielding will, with the ability to slow and corrode.
One could faintly discern the shadows of the original cultivators within them.
Suddenly learning this secret about the Curios of heaven and earth sent a jolt of alarm through Li Fan.
However, having personally witnessed grand spectacles like that of Crimson Flame burning the seas, he was able to quickly calm himself.
In Li Fan’s view, the conflict between this world and its cultivators had clearly reached a critical point.
With tensions so heightened, the occurrence of any manner of bizarre situations was entirely possible.
Li Fan continued to examine Sikong Bo’s memories.
That Nascent Soul powerhouse had long since transformed himself into a Foundation Establishment Curio, attaching himself to the little child.
He generally remained in a deep slumber, only rousing to consciousness when guiding the child’s cultivation or when the child faced mortal danger. Thus, he had remained unaware of Sikong Bo’s covert observation and malicious intent.
It wasn’t until that night when Sikong Bo attempted to seize the child’s essence blood that the powerhouse was abruptly startled awake.
The Nascent Soul powerhouse flew into a rage immediately. This child was his key to potentially achieving Spirit Transformation, even Dao Unity! How could he allow others to covet such a treasure?
He manifested his form, an azure willow tree, intent on striking Sikong Bo down on the spot.
One was a Curio of heaven and earth transformed from a Nascent Soul cultivator, his strength greatly diminished.
The other, though only at the Foundation Establishment realm, possessed the millennia-old secret inheritance of a hidden sect, with endless unpredictable methods at his disposal.
For a time, the two fought to a standstill.
Both sides exhausted their techniques, and the battle escalated into a true life-and-death struggle where neither was willing to retreat.
After a prolonged and entangled fight, both were severely wounded and began to harbor thoughts of withdrawal.
It was at this moment that the little child suddenly appeared.
He gazed indifferently at the two combatants with a cold and severe expression, a completely different person from the innocent five- or six-year-old he had been before.
His cultivation had already reached the absolute limit of Qi Refinement; all he needed was a Curio of heaven and earth to step into the Foundation Establishment realm.
The azure willow sensed the impending danger and wanted to flee, but it was already too late.
During the days while it slumbered, the child had secretly laid various restrictive spells upon it.
Now, as they activated abruptly, the azure willow was instantly sucked into the child’s body and completely refined within moments.
Witnessing this, Sikong Bo was terrified to his core. He turned and ran.
The child, of course, refused to let him escape.
Though the child had just entered the Foundation Establishment realm, his every movement carried the subtle bearing of a grandmaster. Each strike unerringly targeted Sikong Bo’s vital points.
Moreover, he seemed to possess a deep understanding of Sikong Bo’s origins. Every time Sikong Bo tried to split off and flee with his avatar, the avatar was destroyed immediately.
At the end of a long chase, Sikong Bo’s avatar was completely annihilated, and he himself was severely wounded, driven to the end of his rope.
As a last resort, he chose to release all the remnant souls of his sect elders stored within the Heaven-Swapping Token, hoping they would buy him a few moments’ respite.
The remnant souls indeed distracted the child somewhat, allowing Sikong Bo to put some distance between them.
But then, he saw a purple bolt of lightning descend from the heavens from afar, striking all the remnant souls and reducing them to ashes.
Terrified out of his wits, Sikong Bo fled madly without a single backward glance.
He finally came to a halt only after fleeing all the way to the remote Congyun Sea.
However, his injuries were too severe, and his end drew near.
Before his death, Sikong Bo found Sikong Yi and took him as a disciple. After hurriedly passing down the Heaven-Swapping Art and the token to him, Sikong Bo perished.
As for Sikong Yi’s memories, they were far simpler compared to his master’s thrilling experiences.
Although he had inherited the legacy of the Heaven-Swapping Sect, his cheap master had left him almost nothing upon his death.
The life of a rogue cultivator was exceedingly difficult. Even gathering the materials to refine an avatar proved a daunting task.
Thus, after painstakingly cultivating to the Qi Refinement realm on his own, he decisively chose to join the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
After breaking through to the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm, he began collecting materials to refine his own avatar.
By chance, during an underwater expedition, he came across a corpse.
Sikong Yi had a vague sense that this corpse was extraordinary. Perhaps it had once been a powerful cultivator in life. So he used this corpse as the material to create his avatar.
This avatar was none other than Baili Chen.
The moment the avatar was successfully refined, a series of blurry images flashed through his mind.
It turned out this corpse had once been a disciple of the ancient Cloudwater Palace.
When the calamity arrived, he was severely injured and fled from Cloudwater Palace.
Unfortunately, he did not last long before his soul returned to the heavens, and he perished in the sea.
Thousands of years later, he was refined into an avatar by Sikong Yi.
Through this avatar, Sikong Yi not only obtained a technique called the Sea-Calming Sword Art but also learned some secrets of the former Cloudwater Palace.
Unfortunately, they were only fragmented, blurry glimpses. Not the full picture.
Moreover, Cloudwater Palace had long been concealed by a great array, hidden from the world. Even if Sikong Yi wanted to explore it, he had no means to do so.
Later, when he discovered that the bounty for the Cloudwater Model located within Cloudwater Palace was one hundred thousand contribution points, he was instantly thrilled.
Knowing that his opportunity had arrived, he kept a close watch on any anomalies in the central sea region, secretly waiting for Cloudwater Palace to open.
In Anchor Year 11, when Cloudwater Palace reappeared in the world, he entered it at the first opportunity.
He had originally planned to obtain the Cloudwater Model and claim the one hundred thousand contribution points, paving a smooth path for his future cultivation.
Little did he expect that he would encounter Li Fan.
Even in death, Sikong Yi did not even know the identity of the person who had killed him.
Furthermore, how had the other party noticed him in the first place? Had he not learned from his master’s lesson and acted with extreme caution?
Sensing the thick resentment in Sikong Yi’s remnant soul, Li Fan’s expression remained unchanged. He summoned the Blue Flame phantom spirit and completely annihilated the two remnant souls.
If not for me, Sikong Yi should have successfully obtained the Cloudwater Model, exchanged it for one hundred thousand contribution points, and then used the long-distance teleportation array to leave the Congyun Sea before anyone could react.
No. Recalling the events of his previous life, Li Fan shook his head inwardly. In the previous life, many witnessed Sikong Yi leaving alone through the teleportation array. Yet no one noticed Baili Chen...
Perhaps this was a “golden cicada shedding its shell” scheme employed by Sikong Yi. In the end, he likely never left the Congyun Sea at all.
His true self departed the Congyun Sea in full view of everyone, creating the illusion that he had left. In reality, he used the Heaven-Swapping Art to secretly return to some hidden location within the Congyun Sea.
He didn't need to fool the Tianxuan Mirror; he only needed to vanish from the sights of those coveting the one hundred thousand contribution points.
A clever method. Perhaps I can use it myself in this life. After all, the temptation of one hundred thousand contribution points is simply too great.
Li Fan stored the Heaven-Swapping Token in his storage ring and flew toward a nearby island.
He needed to return to Myriad Immortals Island first.
The gains from this trip to Cloudwater Palace were immense, almost too much to process. He would need some time to properly digest it all.